Ludolf Holst, On the Relationship of the Jews to the Christians in Commercial Towns, Leipzig 1818

Source Description

Since 1799
Ludolf Holst (1756–1825) had gained a
reputation in Hamburg as an economic expert. Having studied theology and law,
he worked as a private tutor and was married to women’s rights advocate
Amalia Holst.
Since 1799 he devoted himself to economic issues
relevant to Hamburg, a topic on which he published several treatises after
the end of French rule. His treatise “Über das Verhältnis der Juden zu den Christen in den
Handelsstädten” [“On the Relationship of the Jews to
the Christians in Commercial Towns”] (Leipzig
1818), published anonymously, represented a hallmark of
early 19th century anti-Jewish
argumentation. His second publication, “Judenthum in allen dessen Theilen aus einem
staatswissenschaftlichen Standpuncte betrachtet“
[“Jewry in All Its Parts Considered from a Political Economics Perspective”]
(Mainz
1821), was published shortly after the outbreak of the
“Hep-Hep” riots, which occurred in several cities including Hamburg. Holst’s criticism was
primarily based on the Jews’ economic activities. A century later, both of his
publications were used as sources by Werner Sombart. In his
well-known book “Die Juden
in der Wirtschaft” [“The Jews in the Economy”]
(Leipzig
1911), Sombart explicitly referred to “the well informed writer”
Holst when
integrating him into his hypothesis on the Jews’ role in capitalism.